Amrita at Bangalore Nano

Wednesday, January 11, 2012 - 09:16

January 11, 2012
Center for Nanosciences, Kochi

The 4th edition of Bangalore Nano focused on the theme Nanoscience and Technology at the Cutting Edge. Organized during December 8-9, 2011, it aimed to decrease the gap between industry and research, and offer new opportunities to young scientists and researchers.

This annual conference is organized by the Departments of IT, BT and S&T of the Government of Karnataka, under the guidance of Professor C.N.R. Rao’s Vision Group on Nano Technology.

“The conference enables all stakeholders to meet on a common platform to find solutions from nanotechnology for the betterment of mankind,” explained Mr. Ranjith R, research scholar at the Amrita Centre for Nanosciences.

Mr. Ranjith R. won the third prize in the conference for his poster titled A multifunctional nanomedicine approach for the inhibition of cancer-migration followed by photo-activated killing.

The research work was completed under the guidance of Prof. Manzoor K.

Over 25 PhD and MTech students of the Amrita Center for Nanosciences presented papers and posters at this major international event, which featured top global researchers, entrepreneurs and organizations in the field of nanotechnology.

Overall, 140 organizations from 12 different countries including Russia, Germany, USA, Japan, Switzerland and Canada participated; 25 exhibitors from all over the world contributed to a much appreciated tradeshow.

“The field of medical nanotechnology has progressed considerably over the past decade,” stated Dr. Shantikumar V. Nair, Director of the Amrita Center for Nanosciences, speaking at the conference on Nanomedicine and Tissue Nano-Engineering.

Explaining the challenges of regenerating tissues, as well as the recent advances in this field, he said, “Advances now make it possible to regenerate many tissues, although the dream of regenerating organs remains very far away. A wide variety and modalities of treatment are now possible, and few have already reached clinical application. Here the dream is treatment with no side effects and no recurrence, and effective against all drug resistance mechanisms.”

Dr. Shantikumar also chaired the tutorial session on Nano Medicine and Nano Biotech.

Dr. Shantikumar was one of 60+ internationally acclaimed speakers at the conference. Among others who spoke were Prof. Anthony K. Cheetham from the UK, Prof. Timothy S. Fisher and Stuart S.P. Parkin from the USA and Prof. E.W. Meijer-Eindhoven from the Netherlands.

Delegates showcased ground-breaking nano-applications, mainly in the fields of healthcare, energy and water.

The conference included, for the first time, a full day of tutorials for nanotechnology postgraduate students and young researchers on December 7. More than 450 young people participated, and posed several questions to the scientists’ panel.

Their active participation and enthusiasm points to the growing interest of the new generation in this very innovative and promising field. Students, scientists and entrepreneurs will have another occasion to build bridges between research and industry during the next edition of Bangalore Nano, December 5-7, 2012.